Rachel Carpenter knew she wanted to do something more than wait for her life to start. At 16,
she just didn’t know what that was.

So she prayed: “God, give me something hard to do."

The Marysville resident said she felt the answer in her heart, a calling to invite every
teenager in Ohio to worship together.

Now, about three years later, she is expecting about 2,000 young people to gather at Columbus
Commons Downtown on Saturday for the Undignified Event, a five-hour praise-fest featuring four
bands from across the state.

Carpenter is Christian, but the event is open to people of all faiths.

“We’re inviting everybody,” she said. “It’s about just feeling the presence of God and
worshipping him in whatever style they believe is the right style.”

Carpenter, now 19, said she was inspired to act after reading the book
Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris, an assignment during her final year of home
schooling.

The book, she said, encourages teens to take action in their communities. After reading stories
of other teens, she felt that she wanted to do more.

The Harris brothers, now 24, wrote their book when they were 18 and have since started a website
called The Rebelution, said Brett Harris, who lives in upstate New York.

“There are so many lives impacted by these things young people are inspired to do, so we’re
really excited every time we hear another story,” he said.

Carpenter said she has spread the word about Saturday by talking to church youth groups and
others. She and a committee that includes her parents also have reached out through Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram as well as an Undignified website.

The event gets its name from a Bible story found in 2 Samuel, in which David tells his wife he
will be “undignified” in his worship of God.

Carpenter said the $5,000 cost of the event will be covered by donations, including about $2,500
raised by youths at Full Gospel Sons of God Church on the Hilltop.

The Rev. Mike Harding, the church’s pastor, said Carpenter spoke at the church and inspired
young people who had been considering ways to do community outreach. At least 30 youths from the
church will attend Saturday’s event.

Harding said he believes that young people have become more involved in church activities.

“They just want to get involved and do something,” he said.

Harris said young people have had their eyes opened up to a world beyond their neighborhoods,
cities, states and even the nation.

“Young people are being motivated, I think, by a sense of, ‘There are big issues in the world,
there are people suffering, there are people being harmed, there are needs that I think I could
meet, and together maybe we could do something to address those needs in a big way.’ ”

Carpenter is a member of First Apostolic Church of Dublin, where her father is pastor. She
attends Columbus State Community College and works at her local library.

She would like to plan more Undignified events and to inspire teens throughout the nation to do
the same.

She hopes the event reaches teenagers who see church as a scary place with rules and
restrictions that prevent them from being themselves.

“What we want to do is take it out to the public so people can feel the presence of God and
experience him,” she said.

“It’s kind of like, just come be yourself and worship God how you’re comfortable worshipping
God.”

To learn more, go to http://undignifiedevent.com and http://therebelution.com.